BEIRUT: Canadian jurist Norman Farrell will
likely replace Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare,
Al-Arabiya TV said Sunday.
Citing diplomatic sources, the Arabic TV news
channel said that Prime Minister Najib Mikati had received a letter with two
names: Farrell’s to replace Bellemare and that of a Kenyan judge to replace the
late Judge Antonio Cassese in the Appeals Chamber.
Press reports last week had quoted a Western
diplomat as saying that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had sent a
letter to the Lebanese government proposing three possible replacements for
Bellemare.
However, a source close to Mikati told The
Daily Star Sunday evening that the premier had not received a letter addressing
the issue.
Ban is responsible for appointing a new
prosecutor to replace Bellemare, whose term ends Feb. 29.
Farrell is currently deputy prosecutor of the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which handles war
crimes committed during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s. The ICTY’s
prosecutor is Serge Brammertz, who led from 2006 to 2007 the United Nations
International Independent Investigation Commission, the STL’s predecessor.
The Canadian jurist also served as the senior
appeals counsel and head of the Appeals Section in the Office of the Prosecutor
for both the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the ICTY.
If Al-Arabiya’s report is accurate, the Kenyan
judge would take the late Cassese’s seat in the STL Appeals Chamber. Judge
David Baragawath was elected to replace Cassese as STL president but the
Appeals Chamber, normally comprised of three international and two Lebanese
judges, remains one judge short.
The STL, which is tasked with bringing to
justice those involved in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri, indicted four members of Hezbollah last summer. The party has steadfastly
denied any involvement.
Last week, Ban extended the
mandate of the court for three years, and proceedings in absentia against the
accused are expected to begin this year.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Feb-27/164738-norman-farrell-likely-to-replace-stl-prosecutor-bellemare.ashx#axzz1naaKLFec
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